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Hallo again to all.

Bishops at Lambeth 1998: Looking for unity? Or drawing boundaries?

This week several events and two essays combine to form the focus of our thoughts about the Anglican world. Rodrigo Contreras, a Spanish-speaking Anglican in Mexico City and a member of the cathedral parish of San José de Gracia, has written an essay entitled 'Una reflexión sobre el diálogo entre la Iglesia Católica-Romana y la Iglesia Anglicana', which we have translated into English for you. Mark Harris, an Episcopal priest in Delaware, USA, has written an essay entitled 'A Fourth Way: on the Anglican Communion as an Ecumenical Fellowship'. The Church of England is having its General Synod, at which it addresses the thorny question of 'whither our church?'. In Australia the Archbishop of Sydney just approved legislation that will effectively allow cross-diocese church planting, and in addition the Anglican Church of Australia has released a draft of its rules for women bishops.

All of these events are part of the search for the identity of our church in an increasingly secular or non-Christian world. Most Spanish-speaking countries are overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, so Mr Contreras sees value in ARCIC and ecumenism. Most English-speaking countries are decidedly nonreligious, so Fr Harris sees value in koinonia within our Anglican ranks.

It is the policy of Anglicans Online not to take a formal position in theological disputes, as we hope to be of value to all corners of the Anglican world. These disputes of church governance are somewhat at the edge of theology. As Mr Contreras notes, when seeking unity we must decide if we are seeking unity of faith or unity of organization. He goes on to prefer unity of organization, while Fr Harris argues (in essence) that unity of faith is more important. We don't have the answers, but we are pleased to be able to bring you information that will help you think about the questions.

As always, we report news in our News Centre, and note what's New This Week. See you next week.

Cynthia McFarland cmcf@anglicansonline.org		Brian Reid reid@anglicansonline.org

Last updated: 19 November 2000
URL: http://anglicansonline.org/